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Animalia >Chordata >Osteichthyes >Gasterosteiformes >Gasterosteidae >Gasterosteus >

In the three-spined stickleback, a male builds a nest for spawning, and courts and leads females into the nest. Females lay eggs in the nest, but only the male parent takes care of eggs and hatched embryos until the embryos leave the nest. The parental male pumps water continuously over the eggs with its pectoral fins so that the embryos hatch successfully. This behavior is called ¡Æfanning.¡Ç

Eggs can be highly nutritious food. And female three-spined sticklebacks often feed on eggs guarded by male parents. The rate of egg predation by female sticklebacks is said to be high at Hongan-shimizu, where the density of this species is high. Egg-guarding males thus are hostile to female conspecifics. In the video, a fanning male is chasing away an approaching female.
(By Osamu Ishida, Fukui City Museum of Natural History)

(This video picture was prepared by ¡ÆFriends of Fukui City Museum of Natural History during a project ¡ÆEducational Videos on the Three-spined Stickleback.¡Ç http://www.nature.museum.city.fukui.fukui.jp/friends/itoyo/)
(translated by Asoh)

(Data No.momo051103ga09b)

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